Community service workers: Always busy, if unseen

It's a common complaint: Where the heck are the community service workers? Why don't they do anything? Those who work in the Canton Municipal Court program say the workers are plenty busy — five days a week, year round. Picking up trash, mowing lawns, shoveling snow.

The time logged was part of the sentences handed down by Canton Municipal Court judges for misdemeanor convictions. The offenses can include driving with a suspended driver's license, criminal trespassing, theft, disorderly conduct, obstruction of official police business, underage drinking and other charges.

Community service can be imposed in lieu of jail time or can follow it.

Lindsay Trent, director of community service, said she has heard the public complaints about not seeing the program in action.

"It's complaint-driven," she said of the community service road crew jobs. "It's pretty thankless work. I have so many before-and-after pictures: What it looked like before we cleaned it up, and what it looked like afterward.

"It very much goes unnoticed."

The community service program is a year-round effort. Rain. Snow. Shine. They rake leaves. Mow grass and shovel snow for the elderly and disabled. Pick up old tires. Clean up dilapidated properties identified by the city health or code departments. Alleys, too.

The trouble spots were a mix of vacant, occupied and foreclosed properties as well as city land where illegal dumping has occurred.

THE NUMBERS

In 2012, municipal court's community service program:

• Collected 2,206 tires

• Collected 1,586 bags of trash

• Mowed 538 lawns

• Shoveled snow on 79 walks or driveways

• Cleaned up 243 properties

The cleanup efforts totaled 101 tons.

Through November in 2013, community service workers have cleaned up 123 tons, including 2,684 tires and 946 bags of trash, according to municipal court records.

Also this year, 1,693 offenders have been sentenced to a total of 78,552 community service hours. In 2012, 2,021 offenders were sentenced to 92,944 community service hours, completing 78 percent of that time.

"We're out doing something five days a week, eight hours a day," Trent said. "They're always doing something, and I think often times people don't see us."

'GOOD, BETTER AND BEST'

Work attitudes vary. Darl Walton, a community sanctions supervisor, explained: "There's good, better and best as far as the way I look at it," he said. "And you've always got an overachiever."

"I've had girls who can outwork guys," Walton said.

Those sentenced to community service also can opt to work for a non-profit agency such as Goodwill, Salvation Army and the Stark County Humane Society.

Page 2 of 2 - Some workers just don't cut it. Walton recalled a young woman who showed up on a frigid morning to rake leaves in a hooded sweatshirt and no gloves. After about 15 minutes, she retreated to the van — but she still must fulfill her community service requirement.

"We have some problem people, every once in a while, who don't want to get dirty ... or they think it's too gross or they're cold," Trent said